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CREATING A
FAIRER SCOTLAND
FUNERALPAYMENTS
Benefit expenditure in Scotland – 2013/14These figures exclude nearly £400million of expenditure on the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Scottish Welfare Fund which are already devolved to the Scottish Parliament. If they are included, total benefit expenditure in Scotland in 2013/14 was around £17.9 billion.
Benefits for people out of work Benefits for elderly people Benefits for people who are ill or disabled
Income Support Financial Assistance Scheme Attendance AllowanceIn Work Credit & Return to Work Pension Credit Carer’s AllowanceCredit State Pension Disability Living AllowanceJob Grant State Pension Transfers Employment & Support AllowanceJobseeker’s Allowance TV Licences Incapacity Benefit
Winter Fuel Payments Industrial InjuriesPersonal Independence PaymentSevere Disablement AllowanceSpecialised Vehicles fundStatutory Sick PayVaccine Damage Payments
Benefits for families with children Benefits for people on low incomes Other
Child Benefit Council Tax Reduction Bereavement benefitsChild Tax Credit Discretionary Housing Payments Christmas bonusGuardians Allowance Scottish Welfare Fund Universal CreditMaternity Allowance Social Fund (regulated)Statutory Maternity Pay Working Tax Credit
Housing Benefit
Benefits to be Devolved
•Scotland Bill•UC Flexibilities agreed
•Scottish Government policy proposals
2015
•New Scotland Act
•Work continues on transition
•Scottish Parliamentary legislation begins
2016
•UC roll out concludes per UKG timetable
•Work continues on transition
•Scottish welfare system emerges
2017 onwar
ds
UK General ElectionScottish Parliament
Elections
Scottish Local
Government Elections
Timetable
The Regulated Social Fund
Funeral Payment Applications, Payments and Spend for the UK
2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/150
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
UK ApplicationsUK PaymentsUK Cost
All figures are taken from DWP Annual Reports on the Social Fund
In 2014/15 there were: 51,000 Applications 32,000 Grants given out UK wide
totalling £44 million Average award £1375 Spend in Scotland in 2013-14 was just
below £6m Recovery - £0.2m for the UK in 2014/15
Applications
What we know about Applicants
37.9% qualify by way of Pension Credit
Qualifying Benefit
Funeral Expenses Payment
Awards (000) Percentage of total awards
Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance (income-related), Jobseekers Allowance (income-based), Universal Credit and Pension Credit 24.8 77.3
Child Tax Credit (at a rate higher than the family element)/Working Tax Credit (which includes a disability or a severe disability element) 2.9 9.1
Housing Benefit & Council Tax Benefit 4.3 13.5
Total 32.1 100.0
All figures are taken from DWP Annual Reports on the Social Fund
Trends in Scotland
• Rising Death Rate
• Rising Funeral Costs
• Downwards pressures/static incomes
• Current level of grant cf. costs
Likely increasing need for funeral payment
Continue gathering evidence to inform policy – advice to Ministers - pre-christmas
Scoping out practicalities of delivery - mapping the existing DWP process and looking at data needs and sources
Liaising with projects in the Social Security Programme on RSF requirements e.g. assessment of options for delivery, the Scotland Bill and other legislation, financial negotiation with the UK Govt.
What we are doing
Wide options appraisal under way Range of needs for the benefits being
devolved Data sharing critical for all Opportunity to learn from DWP Commitment to respect and maintain the
dignity of the applicant Commitment to working with users on
design and improvement e.g. user panels
Delivery Arrangements
Burial and Cremations Bill Increasing and widely variable funeral
costs Welfare Reform Third and private sector responses Developing Funeral Poverty debate Early intervention and assets base
Scottish Policy Context
The purpose of the Scottish payment is to allow bereaved families on low income to provide a respectful funeral, within a reasonable timeframe, and without taking on unsustainable debt.
The target group for the Scottish payment is people (families) on a low (benefit) income, who are responsible for the funeral of someone who has died without leaving sufficient funds to pay for their funeral.
The funding available for the grant will be the same as the spend in Scotland at the moment – around £6m a year.
Working Assumptions
Stakeholder Views
Lack of awareness/understanding of funeral payments. Payment does not meet the cost of a funeral, resulting in
debt for families and bad debt for funeral directors Complexity in how the payment is made up and difficulty in
predicting what you might be awarded. A perceived un-fairness in the rules for eligibility -
relationships in modern families are more fluid. Relatively low success rates (around 52% success rate) -
wasted effort on the part of applicants and processing staff.
Delays in processing cause anxiety at a very difficult time. Costs of burial or cremation vary significantly depending
on which Local Authority you live in – a postcode lottery.
Emerging Logic Model
Raise awareness, systematic information through registrars, funeral directors, hospitals etc.
Use the grant to link users to other services e.g. credit unions, welfare rights
Reduce complexity e.g. a fixed grant for funeral director fees, simpler criteria around relationships, deductions etc.
Improve experience/speed e.g. agreement in principle or an eligibility check, progress tracking/better communication.
For consideration if extra money is available, increase the level of payment, extend eligibility criteria
Measures to tackle funeral poverty e.g. downwards pressure on costs, encouraging people to plan for their own funerals where possible.
Ideas so far for the devolved grant
Little meaningful information in DWP data Gender, pregnancy and maternity Religion and belief Race Disability
Equalities Dimensions
Help fill gaps in our thinking – other options we have not thought of, connections we can make
Help us assess the options we have already identified
Help us understand the possible equalities impacts
What we need from you
Dorothy Ogle – [email protected] Kirsteen Macleod –
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Contacts
